Karnataka: Close to Siddaramaiah’s hometown, this village cut off from rest of world

Bengaluru: Travails of farmers of Hosahalli Maale village seem to be endless. They grow paddy, but there are no buyers as there is no connectivity.

Interestingly, the village is just 28 km from Mysuru – the hometown of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and 12 km from T Narasipur – the constituency of Public Works Department Minister Dr H.C. Mahadevappa.

The Siddaramaiah government has not bothered to build a road to link this village with rest of the world. The villagers had boycotted the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, demanding a road for their village, but connectivity still remains a distant dream for them.

Ninety per cent of the people in this village grow paddy, thanks to abundant water sources. Year after year, they grow bumper crops, but incur losses because no truck can come to this village to transport the harvested crop and no broker can come to buy the paddy.

Though the government has fixed Rs 2,000 as minimum support price for paddy, there are no takers for the crop grown in this village.

The villagers have not been able to take the stock to the paddy procurement centre at T. Narasipur Town for want of buyers. The village, which has around 150 families, had remained cut off from for over two decades. Dr Mahadevappa, who ensures roads to rest of the state, has failed to address the needs of this small village in his own constituency.

Mr Raju, a farmer who owns five acres of land, told Deccan Chronicle that it is just a small stretch of 4 km road that the villagers need, but the government has sat over their demand for over 25-30 years.

Except autorickshaws and two-wheelers, no other vehicle can come into their village. “Just before the Lok Sabha elections, the government built half-a-km road and then stopped work. Girls from the village don’t pursue education beyond high school as they have to trek 4 km to come to the main road. In medical emergencies, ambulances stop nearly 3.5 km away from the village and the patients are taken on two-wheelers,” he said.

“It is high time the government built a road for our village. Otherwise, we will have no option but to abandon agriculture and go to cities in search of jobs,” he said.

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